


Joshua

by Treon



Series: Lullaby for Suffering [3]
Category: Jewish Scripture & Legend, Sefer Iyov | Book of Job, מדרש | Midrash, תנ"ך | Tanakh
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treon/pseuds/Treon
Summary: "There's a lullaby for sufferingAnd a paradox to blameBut it's written in the scripturesAnd it's not some idle claim"(Hineni, Leonard Cohen)





	Joshua

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daegaer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/gifts).



_"And then God appeared in a storm.  'Who was there to birth the sea, to swaddle it in fog?  Who prepares the food for the ravens, so that their children won't starve in their nests?  Who frees the wildebeests to roam the earth?'"_  
  
Moses waited patiently while Joshua read the scroll.      
  
Finally, his disciple of forty years looked up in consternation.  Moses nodded for him to ask the question on his lips.  "But... God does not answer Job."  
  
"Well, that depends..." Moses answered.  
  
Joshua was going to lead the Children of Israel into the land.  It now felt like the end of their journey - that certainly was the case for Moses - but in reality, this was just the beginning.  It was going to be a wondrous adventure, but there were going to be many hardships along the way.  
  
Moses had glimpsed some of those hardships.  Far in the future, beyond the mists of time, there will rise a man like none before him.  A man whose depth of Torah learning will surpass that of Moses himself.    
  
Moses had been humbled when God showed him Rabbi Akiva teaching Torah.  "Why did you not choose _him_ to deliver your Holy Torah to the people?" Moses had asked God.  
  
But there was no answer.  "Silence!  For that is my decision."  
  
And further in time, Moses saw the end of that great scholar.  Tortured to death for the crime of teaching Torah, he cried out his last words: "Hear, Oh Israel! The Lord is one!"  
  
Moses had stood by in shock.  "Is this Torah?  Is this its reward?"    
  
Will this be the future?  
  
"Silence!" God had thundered.  "For that is my decision."  
  
"Depends on what?" Joshua asked, bringing Moses back to the present.  
  
Yes, Israel will face many hardships.  The most immediate one being the upcoming change in leadership.  The people were going to lose the man who led them out of bondage and through forty years in the desert.  The knew Moses was being punished, and now they were going to see the punishment carried out.  They were going to face a massive crisis of faith.  They might even reject God, His Torah and its teachings.  But Moses knew that whatever travails the future held, Joshua was the right man to lead them through it.  All he had to do was continue to believe in God, and continue to believe in himself.  
  
"It depends on the question," Moses answered.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story draws heavily on midrash. Sources: Jethro not trusting Moses (Yalkut Shimoni, Exodus 168), Moses arguing with God about justice (Tanchuma Va'etchanan), Moses and Rabbi Akiva (Babylonian Talmud, Menahot 29b), Israel after Moses' death (Babylonian Talmud, Temurah 16a)


End file.
